Bloodstream
by HoneyBee93
Summary: Klaus is back in his own body and he's about to leave Mystic Falls. What will Caroline do? Will she follow him or will she regret not giving him a chance? Mainly Klaus/Caroline with some Elena/Elijah. Rated M for future chapters [I suck at summaries, hope the story is better :S] xxx
1. Chapter 1

**Farewell**

Caroline sighed as she opened the door of her house and she threw her bag in the dim light of the hall.

She had spent the whole day with Elena, who was struggling with her new vampire nature. She was now a vampire and not even the most powerful spell could change that, the sooner she accepted it the better. She had completed her transition a few months ago and since then Caroline had been the who had helped her through this rather unstable phase of her life.

She had been her teacher and her anchor, in fact she was the one who could better understand how Elena was feeling since she had been a vampire only for a couple of years and besides, shortly after the transition, Stefan and Damon left Mystic Falls because Elena had made clear that she could no longer choose one of them, she didn't consider herself worth breaking the brothers' bond beyond repair.

That's how Mystic Falls, hometown of obscure and deadly creatures had been cleaned out. The only vampires left were Caroline, Elena and the Mikaelson family, that for some secret reason had decided to settle in Mystic Falls even after Klaus' evil plans had miserably failed.

There was something different in her house on that night, but Caroline was not sure of what caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end. She stood still trying to catch any noise or scent coming from inside, being the Sheriff's daughter she had learned to be careful, for danger hardly ever had its name sent in. Her supernatural senses made her aware that there was something wrong within the house, someone had broken in.

She got ready for the fight -living in a city like Mystic Falls she always had to be ready to confront an enemy. She looked around expecting an armed member of the Council ready to shoot her with vervain.

She wouldn't have been surprised, the Council had been creeping around her for months now waiting for the moment to catch her by surprise, unaware that even when she wasn't paying attention, someone else, much older and stronger, was looking out for her, ready to go on a killing spree in order to protect her precious existence.

Suddenly a shadow appeared on the top of the stairs and Caroline immediately jumped towards it baring her fangs. She was lead by a brutal survival instinct telling her that the only way she was going to come out of that battle alive was to take it by surprise.

She wasn't strong and her technical skills were rather rough and predictable, that was why she was often used as a bait. She knew how it was to be knocked out unexpectedly and it was time to reverse roles.

The shadow, which apparently was that of a man, noticed her immediately as if it had been waiting for her. He was much stronger and slammed her against the wall.

"I wasn't expecting such a warm welcoming, Love" Sweet British accent. Of course it was him -him paying unexpected visits at her house in the dead of night.

Caroline rolled her eyes, she should have imagined that it was Klaus. She had done her best to avoid him since the day he had got his own body back, she couldn't help but blaming him for Tyler's death and for having tricked her into kissing him while he was controlling his body.

Bonnie had done her best to make the spell work, but after trying to save Elena she was just too weak to succeeded in the body swap. She had barely enough strength to put Klaus back in his own body, but she couldn't get Tyler back in his own. His soul slipped away and his heart stopped beating. Caroline was broken beyond repair.

"Would you mind keeping your claws away from me, Niklaus?" She groaned annoyed.

Klaus let go of her, but he stayed close to her body, so close that Caroline could see the reflection of her face in his eyes.

"So..." She asked getting slowly farther from him "To what do I owe the... Let's pretend it's pleasure?"

"I'm leaving" He answered peacefully.

Caroline tried to act cool, but a part of her was willing to beg him to stay: it didn't matter how much she acted annoyed when he got close to her, she liked to think that no matter how many times she walked away from him, he would always follow her. She took comfort in the thought that, after all, he was becoming less of sociopath and she cherished the hope that someday he would have changed.

"Wh... When?" She stuttered.

She wanted to bite her tongue, she didn't mean to sound so desperate! After all he was still the Evil Hybrid who had destroyed her friends' lives.

"Tomorrow night" He told her with that wicked smirk of his. A smirk that Caroline shouldn't have known so well "and I want you to come with me"

She shook her head "I can't, Klaus" She answered trying to sound firm and convinced.

"I wasn't asking" He replied softly, trying to persuade her to follow him by her own will. He would have hated to take her forcefully, but he would have done it with no regrets if he had no other choice.

"I have to stay here, Elena needs my help and I have to keep an eye on Matt to make sure he's safe with your sister and Kol... And then there's my mom..." She babbled confused.

He wasn't trying to compel her, but his eyes were so magnetizing that she found it hard to think straight when the only thing she wanted was to pull him close to her.

"They trust me, I can't disappoint them" She told him, gathering finally the strength to deny her feelings for him and her desire to follow him wherever he wanted to lead her.

"I understand it" He told her caressing her cheek and pulling his face closer to hers "but I can't leave, knowing that the Council is after you"

If Caroline's heart could still beat, she was sure that by that moment it would have already jumped off her chest.

"I will be okay, Elijah will be here I'll turn to him if I need help" She told him, trying to persuade herself, more than him, to believe her own words "You don't want to snap my neck and kidnap me, do you?"

He ignored her question, which was supposed to be a joke even if her shaky voice made her sound frightened. His baby blue eyes bore into hers, scanning them for any trace of conflicting emotions. There was plenty of it.

Her skin was on fire, she felt like she had a fever and Klaus' lips were the only remedy. But he did not kiss her, not on her mouth anyway, he just caressed her forehead with his lips and then he pulled away gazing intensely into her eyes for a moment as if he was waiting for her next move.

But Caroline didn't move, she just stood there looking at him dumbfounded. She wanted to take him back and kiss him deeply, but her body did not respond her, it was like her own will had left.

"I guess this is a farewell, Love" He sighed sadly.

Then he disappeared quickly leaving Caroline with the sensation that she had only imagined him.

As soon as she found herself alone she could start to breathe again, of course she didn't need to, but she couldn't help but maintaining such a human habit.

The girl walked to the open window and pulled away the curtain blowing with the chilly night breeze. She inhaled the mellow scent of the upcoming rain and she gazed sadly into the night, realizing that now nobody would have taken care of her.

**What will Caroline do now? Will she follow her heart or her voice of reason?**

**Hope you liked the first chapter and, please, let me know if I should keep writing! ;)  
Thanks for the lovely reviews, I edited the first chapter and I'm really sorry about it! I should have bothered checking the story before publishing it, hope it's okay now :)**

**Wait for the next update sometimes next week! ;) **

**Bye xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Your heart knows the answer**

That night Caroline fell asleep trying to fight back the tears in her eyes. She had to be strong, there was no way she could allow herself to break down for such a stupid matter.

She wasn't even sure of her feelings for Klaus: of course she could not deny that he was kind of charming in his creepy, old fashioned way and she was somehow appealed to his dangerous side -she totally was a sucker for bad boys- but she couldn't just pretend to be oblivious of his past.

The sensible choice would have been forgetting everything about that evening, but the memory of his deep blue eyes the moment before leaving was somehow printed in her brain and she couldn't make it go away.

The morning after Caroline woke up early for her daily training with Elena, they were working on her hunting skills. Caroline wanted to make sure that they would be able live on a bunny diet since feeding on blood bags was becoming some kind of extreme sport, you could never tell which one was spiked with vervain. Damn Council!

On the porch she found an unexpected visitor. Who told the Original family that they were welcomed to visit her at home whenever they wanted to?

"Elijah..." She gasped in surprise "What are you doing here?"

"Good morning, Miss Forbes," He replied politely "I heard that you received an unexpected visit from my brother last night, I wanted to make sure you were fine"

"Uhm... Yeah" She stuttered "He only wanted to inform me that he was leaving town"

Even if she knew that Klaus was the most powerful of the Mikaelson's, that Rebekah hated her and that Kol was plain crazy, Caroline couldn't help but being intimidated by Elijah's solemn presence.

"I highly doubt that he only came with purpose of saying goodbye," He commented "has Niklaus by any chance mentioned his will of taking you away with him?"

Caroline nodded and she explained the reason why she had refused.

"Caroline," Elijah sighed "You don't owe anything to your friends and I can assure you that no one is going to hurt Matt"

"What about Elena?" She asked doubtfully.

"I'll take personal care of Elena, if you decide to leave" Elijah answered promptly.

"I wouldn't even consider that hypothesis if I didn't trust you, Elijah" She told him bluntly "but I know that you do really care about her and that you would do anything in your power to keep her safe"

"Caroline, you have a right to try and be happy" Elijah told her holding her hands in a father-like manner.

"It's not that simple..." Caroline sighed "if I choose to follow Klaus, I'll lose my friends, all of them... We can't forget what he put us through"

"But you do see it, don't you?" Elijah asked looking deeply into her eyes "You can see that somewhere Niklaus possesses a human side"

"This did not prevent him from killing Tyler" She stuttered.

She already knew how that discussion was going to end, not because of Elijah's arguments, but because she knew that there was nothing for her in that town. Nothing but painful memories haunting her like ghosts.

She was going to look 17 forever and in such a small town it was hardly possible that her not-aging would go unnoticed. And besides her mother had lost her place as member of the Council because she was discovered to be a vampire. Her presence wasn't really necessary, but yet she needed to make up excuses to avoid facing her desires.

"Caroline," Elijah leaned closed to her "I know I am asking you to make a very difficult choice, but if you give him a chance I think you'll find a way to forgive him... My siblings and I did even after what he did to us"

"I'll think about it..." She promised "And I'll go and look for him if I choose to leave"

Elijah thanked her for her attention and he greeted her.

"You're amazing, you know?" He told her as he parted "My brother becomes a completely different person when you're around, I have never seen him like that"

Caroline was distracted the whole day, trying to weigh the pros and cons of her choice.

Elena didn't notice her mood at first as she was too focused on feeding, but as soon as she had sedated her thirst she realized that there was something wrong with Caroline. Of course, Elena could always tell when something was wrong with her best friend and Caroline knew that at some point she would have had to break the news to her, but once she told her she was leaving there would have been no way to turn back.

"I have to go away for a while, Elena" She eventually found the words, while tears collected in her eyes blurring her vision.

Elena gasped, she and Caroline had grown so close that she couldn't bear the idea of losing her.

"I spoke to Elijah this morning and he offered to carry on your education, he is an Original... You will be learning from the Best" She told her trying to make her smile to release the tension.

"Is it because of the Council?" Elena asked, she knew that the members had been after her for a while.

Caroline nodded, well it was half true and she was not ready to tell her everything.

"Just promise me that we will keep in touch, okay?" Elena sobbed.

Caroline hugged her close "I promise" She answered.

She stood before the Mikaelson's door for what seemed an eternity. What if she was making the biggest mistake of her life? Months had passed since Tyler's death and Klaus hadn't hurt anyone since then, but how could he have changed after a thousand years of murdering and slaughtering?

She could not do that, she was not ready to go away with him. In a century, maybe.

Caroline was about to turn back when the heavy, wooden door opened with a creepy, creaking noise.

"I was wondering if you were ever going to knock" Cold, sarcastic voice.

Caroline stared back into her cold, baby blue eyes. Rebekah was deadly with her naive baby face and her dreadful temper.

"I was looking for your brother, but never mind..." Caroline blabbed.

"I happen to have 3 of them" She spat, but a moment later her gaze landed on the cold marble floor "I used to at least"

Caroline did not want to be soft on her, after killing Elena she did not deserve any pity. But how could she turn down a girl that looked so hurt?

"Nik hasn't been talking to me since the day he got his body back" She sighed.

Rebekah had always been sure of only one thing in her life, that the relationship she and her brother had was unbreakable. Well, she used to be sure of that until life proved her wrong.

"He left" She murmured "He didn't even say goodbye, I know that because I saw him carrying his luggage to the car"

Caroline found her arms wrapped tightly around Rebekah's shaking body before she could even realize what she was doing. It was a girl thing, when she saw another girl on the verge of tears she couldn't help but trying to comfort her. She was too kindhearted, that's why she was always the one ending up with a broken heart.

"I think he's at your place" Bekah whispered slowly crawling out of that hug which felt oddly reassuring "he's not going to give up on you, you know that"

Caroline looked at her with vitreous eyes, her arms still stretched. How did she know that? She had just said Klaus hadn't spoken to her in months!

"I've known my brother for a thousand years, Caroline, and no one has ever made him feel the way that you do" She repeated regaining her composure "he could rip the World apart to be with you"

"I don't doubt that" Caroline hissed. Klaus could have ripped the World apart even out of boredom.

"I don't buy it" Rebekah told her bluntly "I'm not a fool, Caroline Forbes, I've been around for a long time and I don't believe your farce"

Caroline raised an eyebrow in disbelief, what was she even babbling about?

"You can blame my brother as much as you please, you can say that you hate him and you might have even toasted to his death" She said bitterly "but your eyes tell a completely different tale. It doesn't matter how much you deny it, how much you fight it, my brother has gotten under your skin and now you have a choice to make: you can either let him go and regret it for the rest of your life or you can give him a chance. I promise he's not that bad until he loses his temper" She joked.

Caroline felt dizzy. How dared Rebekah tell her how she felt when she herself was not sure about it? And most important, why did her words sound so damn right?

"I suggest you run. Fast" These were the last word Caroline heard before the other vampire slammed the door in her dumbfounded face.

Rebekah was sure that he would pass her house on his way to leave the town, she just had to find him before he left. She ran as fast she could looking for him.

Eventually she spotted him standing outside her house as if waiting for her.

Of course he had never meant to leave without her, he just hoped they could maintain a civil relationship, which would have been hard if he had to kidnap her in order to take her away from her dangerous hometown.

"Klaus!" The girl screamed running after the shadow of the Original.

Klaus slowly turned towards the voice, a voice that belonged to someone he had hoped to meet for the last time before leaving Mystic Falls.

Caroline's blonde hair shone under the street lights and she looked so helpless with her gloomy eyes and trembling hands.

"I want to come with you!" She said with a firm tone, which contrasted her frail appearance.

He took a few steps towards the girl and then he stopped, confused.

"Don't put my hopes up, Caroline," he sighed "there's just so much rejection a single man can take"

"I have nothing to do here," She muttered looking into his eyes "my friends will manage without me and with the whole council thing I'm a threat to them, Tyler is dead and I..."

She cut the sentence biting her lower lip and looking at the ground with embarrassment.

Klaus gathered all his braveness and he got closer to her. He had no fear when it was about killing and destroying everything around him, but every time he got closer to Caroline he felt somehow weak and vulnerable.

There was this human side well hidden within him and she was the only person that could wake that kind of feelings. He could fake it, he could act bold and say he was the alpha male, but the plain truth was that she made his heart sink to his stomach and his knees weak.

She raised her gaze with surprise when she felt Klaus' hands on her shoulders and she looked deeply in his eyes with disbelief.

"You what, Caroline?" He whispered nearly touching his lips with hers.

She frowned feeling like every single fiber of her being had turned to stone, she couldn't have broken that contact, not even if she managed to gather all her strength. It was a feeling she knew way too well, she was the prey staring directly into the eyes of the hunter.

But he tortured her in a way she had never been tortured before. Not a single time had he hurt her -not directly at least- nor had he compelled her, yet he was driving her crazy. It was the most subtle, deceitful torture ever. He was her worst incurable disease.

"I want you..." She gulped "I want you to show me what the World has to offer"

Klaus moved away from her, releasing the burden hanging onto her and laughed softly. Apparently taking Caroline with him was much easier than expected.

"This is exactly as I predicted," He said with a wicked smile "this small-town life is not enough for you."

Caroline followed him submissively and she took his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. It was unusual of her to touch him out of her own will, she'd rather back up whenever he tried to touch her instead, but she no longer had the strength to fight anymore. For once she wanted someone who would take care of her.

He could see she was devastated and frustrated, she looked at least one thousand years older.

"Where are we going?" She asked even if it didn't really matter to her.

"Wherever you want to go, Love," Klaus whispered softly "I was thinking about London."

"One last thing, Niklaus," She threatened him waving a finger "Stop with this idiotic Love thing! I have a name, a nice one actually, and it's Caroline!" The strong, bold Caroline Forbes was back.

Klaus knew that she wasn't serious and even if she was, the worst thing she could to him do was walking away. And if she had accepted him with all the slaughters and evil plans, she would have been able to forgive him for calling her nicknames.

"As you wish, Caroline..." He answered smirking "Your wish is my command, Love".

**I want to thank you all for the kind reviews, they truly are motivating! :)**

**I hope you like this chapter and I also hope I didn't make too many mistakes this time :(**

**Bye! xxxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Future starts slow**

Caroline stretched her legs and she took a deep breath trying to calm down.

_You can do it, Caroline. _She kept repeating to herself in a silent mantra. _You're a strong, powerful vampire and you're Miss Mystic Falls. There's nothing to be afraid of._

If she kept repeating those words she was going to persuade herself and she would have overcome her fear. Sure thing she was.

"Frightened of flying, Sweetheart?" The Hybrid sitting next to her smiled lazily. Of course, he knew she was terrified and obviously he was loving every second of it.

"Me? Frightened?" She replied putting her brave face on "Not a chance"

She closed her eyes and listened to the hostess' explanation on how to behave during a plane crash. As if this could have helped anyone survive.

She had her safety belt tightly fastened even before the warning light went off.

She had never been on a plane and the experience was scaring the bloody hell out of her, but she wouldn't have admitted it under torture. Ironically, she should have had nothing to worry about, she was a vampire, a plane crash wouldn't have been nice, but it was hardly going to kill her, right?

"You know I could just compel you to sleep throughout the whole flight," He whispered in her ear "all you have to do is ask"

"I am perfectly comfortable with flying" She lied while she absently scraped something off her nails, she used to do it whenever she felt nervous. Anything to prevent her hands from shaking.

The plane wasn't even moving and she had already started to panic. Well, she already had when they were checking in even if she was too proud to tell him she was scared.

Suddenly she felt an unpleasant clang and the enormous plane jerkily started to move. It hadn't even taken off when she grabbed the closest thing to her hands, which happened to be Klaus' hand and she held it so tight that she would have turned his bones to dust hadn't he been a Hybrid.

"HolymotherofGod!" She shrieked in a single breath "What's going on?"

Klaus couldn't contain his laughter as he enjoyed the feeling of her hand on his, even if she was squeezing it quite painfully. Of course he would have never admitted that she was actually hurting him.

"Get a grip, Love" He sighed trying to free his hand "We're not going to crash anytime soon"

"That's not funny!" She hissed "Not funny at all"

"Don't worry, it's not like you're going to die anyway" He comforted her in his oh so creepy way.

"Do I really have to sit with you through the whole flight?" She muttered as she considered the idea of willingly jumping off the plane.

"It's only 9 hours, Love," He smirked as if he found her uneasiness extremely amusing "it's not eternity, you know"

_Thank God I have my iPod. _She thought as she dug her hands in her bag looking for her the pretty pink music player.

"We may as well talk, get to know each other" He suggested observing the young, nearly hysterical vampire sitting next to him. She was so cute, even when she acted so pissed.

"So, Caroline," He smiled wickedly and she suddenly stopped feeling shivers down her spine "how come you chose to hang with the likes of me?"

"None of your business" She spat as she finally found her iPod.

"Well, it actually is, Sweetheart" He laughed quietly "but we'll talk about it later since your iPod seems low on battery"

Damn! He was right, as usual. Why hadn't she put the damn thing in charge before leaving? Oh yeah, of course, because she was in such a hurry that she had barely had time to throw a couple of changes in her suitcase.

She took a deep breath and she tried to focus on the music, feeling utterly ashamed every single time he glared at her amused by the lyrics of the songs she was listening to: of course the first song she had to come across was _Sexy Naughty Bitchy Me _by Tata Young. He was going to be a damn tease about it, obviously.

She hoped her iPod would last long enough for him to fall asleep, or at least for her to fall asleep. Of course, she wasn't that lucky.

He smirked as soon as he realized that the music was no longer playing, he had to admit he was kind of relieved: she had a dreadful taste in music! Caroline squirmed uncomfortably in her seat and turned to face the window.

"Caroline, I've known you for a while now" He sighed "and you've never been able to shut up for more than... 10 minutes maybe? So why don't you just give up and talk to me instead?"

He relaxed in his seat and closed his eyes, apparently giving up the purpose of starting any conversation with her.

She sighed and she tried to relax as well. Obviously silence couldn't last that long when Caroline Forbes was around, her mind kept wandering in places she didn't want to go to: every thought she had gave her the unpleasant feeling that she had burnt every bridge to go back to her friends. How could they ever forgive her? She could almost see Elena's horrified and accusing face blaming her for riding off into the sunset with the King of Villains and Matt's resigned face because of course Caroline was lonely and desperate and definitely too weak without a man by her side and then Stefan's dead serious vampire look reminding her that Klaus was evil and heartless, not to mention Damon's never ending tease about how quickly she had forgotten about Tyler. She didn't want to think about that.

"I'm not good at being alone" She admitted quietly not even bothering to look at him knowing that he would have been able to read the despair in her eyes.

She saw a bitter smile forming slowly on his lips in the reflection of the window, he knew that kind of feeling like the back of his hands. He knew it even better than she did.

"Aren't we a pair, Sweetheart?" He smirked as she turned to him, her smile just as bitter as his.

"Do you think I will ever be able to go back?" She asked quietly.

"Already thinking about running away from me?" He joked "I'm hurt"

She shook her head "It doesn't make sense," She whispered more to herself than to him "You were the last person I was expecting to leave with, Tyler and I were supposed to run away together"

There was a dark shadow lingering in her blue eyes telling him that it didn't matter how hard he tried, he was never going to take Tyler's place in her heart. But wasn't it supposed to happen? We idealize our first love and when it's taken away from us we just build a sanctuary around it. But time cures everything, doesn't it? And slowly, imperceptibly we begin to let it slip. We forget how it used to be like and one day, without even realizing it, we are ready to let someone new in. Still it had taken him a hundred years to get over Tatia.

"Well to be fair I wasn't expecting you to come so willingly" He replied.

"Yeah... I guess your brother's rhetoric is to blame here" She scoffed pretending to be annoyed.

"I'll make sure to thank him then" He replied grinning.

He spent the few hours left before the landing telling her all the things he wanted to show her in London, he told her it was the city he had spent most time in. If there was a place he could call home that place was London.

She listened, absorbing greedily every word he said. He was so good at describing the city that Caroline could almost see the old, decaying building of the Victorian Age and the genuine beauty he was so fond of exhibited at the National Gallery, the view of the city from the London Eye at night and the marvelous St. Paul's Cathedral. He had already guided her there through her imagination.

Slowly, peacefully his voice led her into sleep and she found herself walking through the streets of a dream-like London holding Tyler's hand. She was no longer afraid of the plane crashing.

He spent the rest of the flight sketching her. She was so helpless while she was sleeping all curled up in her seat, seeing her like that made him want to protect her even more.

If she only knew how he felt when she was sitting next to him unaware of how deep under his skin she had gotten. Looking at her was enough for him, at least for now.

The plane landed and still she did not wake up. She barely stirred making cute noises in her sleep.

"Caroline, Sweetheart, wake up" He whispered shaking her softly.

She could actually feel his hands on her shoulder pulling her away from her sweet dreams. Waking up and finding out that Tyler was no longer by her side made her always feel so bitter.

"Are we already in London?" She asked rubbing sleep away from her eyes.

He nodded "You snored through half of the travel, Sleepy head"

" . !" She spelled out for him unfastening her seat-belt and sighing heavily.

"What abominably expensive hotel have you booked?" Caroline asked as he opened the door to the cab for her. Abominably, did she seriously use that word? Spending time with that dinosaur of an Original was really starting to affect her vocabulary, a few weeks ago she probably didn't even know how to spell such a word.

"None, Sweetheart" He grinned "You'll be a lovely guest to my house"

"You have a house in London?" She squealed excited like a child on Christmas morning.

The expression on her face was priceless: his house was simply gigantic and Caroline thought that the whole town of Mystic Falls could fit in.

"It's not a house, it's a damn castle!" She corrected him scanning the building from the ground to the roof.

"I promise my flat in Paris is much less luxurious" He joked and laughed hard when she turned to him with a puzzled expression that could only mean _how many damn houses d'ya own?!_

Apparently this one was a lovely Victorian building on the outside, but on the inside it probably hid underground prisons and torture chambers. She wanted so bad to have reasons to despise him, because the more time she spent with him the more human he appeared to be before her very own stupefied eyes. Was Elijah right, then?

The front house slowly opened and a woman in a clever dark green suit greeted them "Mr Mikaelson it's a pleasure to have you back home, I was looking forward to meet your lovely guest"

The woman gave Klaus the keys to the house she took care of during his rather long absence and she happily took the money he gave her. But Caroline was too distracted by the interior design of the house to pay attention to the two of them dealing with bureaucracy; the modern interior design clashed with the old facade of the house in a odd, yet amazing contrast. The first impression Caroline had was that of steeping in a different era: she just jumped from the Victorian Age to the XXI century.

Her stream of thoughts was interrupted by the woman in green wishing her a wonderful holiday as she parted. Knowing that she was completely alone with Klaus was kind of unsettling, not that a hybrid woman could have helped her against him, yet she would have found the idea of having someone else in the house rather comforting.

"I expected it to be creepier" She just commented as she strolled around the living room taking a closer look to the huge TV screen and the powerful Dolby surround system.

"Like dusty old coffins and rusty torture chambers?" He asked cocking an eyebrow.

She allowed herself to laugh "More or less"

"I guess you have to blame Rebekah, she decided to renew it" He replied popping on the black leather couch.

"So where do I sleep?" She asked eying the stairs leading to the first floor.

"Why, with me of course" He answered her flashing a sly smile.

"I'd rather sleep on a bench at the train station, but thanks" She replied dryly.

"It was worth a try," He grinned "there are about ten guest rooms in this house, feel free to take whatever you want"

She was just grateful that her sleeping arrangements did not include sharing a bed with Klaus. She still had morals after all: she was his guest, not his concubine.

She'd better text Elena, just to let her know she was safe. She really didn't want to talk to her at the moment, she still feared the moment when she'd have to tell her the whole truth.

With trembling finger she sent a message.

_Just arrived in London and got a room in a fab mansion. Miss you lots! XOXO_

Elena smiled as she quickly typed a message to her friend. She was sitting in her living room with Elijah sipping hot tea and relaxing after a long day of training.

"How's Caroline?" He inquired seeing Elena's smile grow wider.

"Safe and sound in London apparently" She answered "I hope she doesn't get too lonely"

Elijah tried to suppress a laugh, of course Elena had to stay oblivious of the weird, dangerous Original who was traveling with Caroline.

"Miss Forbes has such a positive personality, I'm sure she'll quickly make a lot of new friends" He replied trying to comfort the worried Elena.

"I know, but she is also so naive and she trusts people too easily" Elena said "I don't want her to get hurt"

Elijah clumsily put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed it gently, making her feel oddly comfortable.

"She's strong, Elena, nothing bad will happen to her," He whispered reassuringly "I promise"

Elena nodded feeling a little less worried, unsure of why she believed him when he said that nothing was going to happen to her best friend.

"Take some rest now, tomorrow is going to be stressful" He suggested as he quickly regained composure. He could not let his feelings get in the way while he was in charge to teach Elena.

When she was ready to handle being a vampire he could start wooing her as she deserved, but for now she already found it hard enough to control her feelings without additional forms of stress.

Once he found himself all alone, phoned Klaus to inquire after the young blonde vampire with him. He felt kind of responsible for having persuaded Caroline to leave with his brother, if something happened to her he would be overwhelmed with guilt. He had to make sure she was safe with him.

She hadn't come back to Mystic Falls accusing his younger brother to be a bloody murderer yet, which meant that she was either dead or comfortable around him. Elijah really hoped it was not the first, how could he explain his precious Elena that he had kind of pushed Caroline in the arms of his kind-of-subject-to-crazy-mood-swings brother?

**This is kind of a filler chapter, promise the real journey will start with the next one!**

**I'm sorry it takes me so long to update but I'm really stuck with uni stuff right now so I can't really focus on writing as much as I'd like to :(  
Thank you as usual for the kind reviews and suggestions! :D  
Byeeee xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**When I see you smile**

He loved the way her eyes caught fire, shining like the Milky Way on a clear night, while she strolled through the streets of London taking pictures and asking questions.

The jet lag had poor effect on their immortal bodies and the weather had been way too kind to spend the best of the day at home: the sky was bright blue, painted with some greyish clouds here and there and the air was chilly and saturated with the smell of recent rain.

He wanted to show her everything so she could keep that genuine smile plastered on her face forever. She insisted on taking the underground and giggled excited as they stood awkwardly in the middle of the overcrowded wagon.

He silently witnessed her excitement with disbelief, what was so funny about a ride in the Underground? Not even he had been that excited on his first ride and, mind you, he had seen the bloody thing being invented!

She took pictures of Nelson's Column and the lions statues in Trafalgar Square and she listened carefully to him as he explained the history of the square and of each statue that was standing there.

They spent the rest of the day at the National Gallery, completely overwhelmed by centuries of history of art. Of course Klaus had to go on and on explaining every single painting, had it been for Caroline the could have been out in a matter of a couple of hours: she literally had to beg him to cut it short on the first two centuries of Italian religious painting!

"But they all look-alike!" She complained as they moved to the further, boring biblical episode with bi-dimensional characters floating in an improbable environment.

"They don't!" He retorted, pinching the bridge of his nose as if she had just told him the worst heresy ever "Weren't you the one who wanted me to show her the World? Well, here we are"

She sighed heavily and she shook her head "Please, can move onto the next chapter?"

As the moved through the centuries, the paintings became more and more elaborated and the subjects became more various. She actually started to enjoy it.

She looked over at Botticelli's Venus and Mars painting and she almost felt envious of that woman, the Goddess of Love, so strong and beautiful watching over her sleeping lover, the God of War. She wondered how could Mars let its guard down in front of someone else, putting his heart in the hands of a woman, trusting her with his life. A woman who was more of a lover, than a fighter. And by the way why was there a gang of half-sheep weirdos playing with Mars weaponry?

"Botticelli believed than Love could conquer over War, that's why Mars is sleeping peacefully while Venus is wide awake" Klaus explained while looking at the painting "but some people think he was just stoned"

Caroline laughed heartily at his words, but the first part troubled her somehow. Could it be that simple? Could Love alone win over War?

"So do you think it's true?" She asked as they moved away from the painting, chewing on the words he had just told her "Do you think love conquers over war?"

He dodged her question, because he didn't know how to answer. Because in his whole life he had never met a love so deep to redeem him, to make him forget his hunger for power and revenge.

She didn't even try to bring up the subject again, how could a man like him know anything about love when all he had loved were slaughters and mayhem?

She had to admit that some paintings where pretty amazing when she had such an excellent teacher by her side.

"What's so exciting about a vase of sunflowers?" She asked when he stopped in front of Van Gogh's famous work The Sunflowers "I mean, why so many paintings of sunflowers?"

His lips formed a thing, thoughtful line "Van Gogh was basically an obsessed, lonely, desperate man who thought he would have never succeeded in life, he wanted to be a painter but he never considered himself as such"

Caroline looked at the painting and she could see why people would have hardly noticed it: it seemed quite pointless to the eyes of a casual observer, who didn't know about the background story. She wondered how Van Gogh had felt while painting those sunflowers? Why had they caught his attention? There were way more beautiful flowers. More elegant, refined, flowers like roses that everyone loved. What was so special about sunflowers? He wasn't even a happy man, why did he like happy flowers?

"Let's go out of here, there's not much more to see anyway" He hissed taking her by the wrist and heading towards the exit.

She bit her lips trying to figure out what had made him change his mind so quickly, but to be honest she was way too happy to get out of the Gallery to complain.

They moved to Hyde Park and she was happy to find a green area in such a big city.

Caroline smelled the fresh air of damp soil and green leaves and wet wood, it was such an unusual smell in a big, polluted city like London.

Suddenly she tugged at Klaus' arm "Look!" She squealed unable to contain her excitement "A squirrel!"

She pointed the little animal with her index finger and she looked at him, she was a little bit disappointed to discover that he was looking at the squirrel with boredom. How could he be so insensitive?

"Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen?" She asked with a great expectation in her voice.

"My brother, Kol, and I used to kill squirrels when we were kids" He answered unemotionally.

Caroline let go of his arm and her eyes widened with disbelief. She looked like a kid who had just discovered that Santa was just fiction.

"What?!" She shrieked "You're a barbarian!"

"Well, a Viking to be more precise" He replied "and by the way I've done far more disgusting things in my life"

"It's not hard to believe" She muttered.

She carefully knelt in front of the little animal, but she was not careful enough and the little ball of fur disappeared in the closest tree. He couldn't help but smile while looking at her, she was so young and so easy to impress. He hoped she would never become as anesthetized as he was.

She looked around and everything felt so normal: there were people walking their dogs, families with children, groups of friends and young couples. Everything there screamed humanity.

They spent the rest of the day visiting London: they crossed the Millennium Bridge and they visited the Globe Theater, where Shakespeare's plays used to be performed during the Elizabethan Period.

The guide, a red-haired boy in his twenties, stopped in the middle of the pitch and started to explain that the lower class used to stand in the flat area in front of the stage and that there was nowhere to sit down for the whole play, she couldn't imagine how it used to be like since she was used to all kind of comforts when she went to the theater or to the cinema.

"I wonder how it was..." She murmured "to go to the theater in those times"

"It was awfully uncomfortable and the place stank as hell, you wouldn't have liked it" He answered bluntly "But I'll take you to West End, you can't leave London if you haven't seen a musical first"

The guide was explaining how the theater was a reconstruction loyally based on the original one when Klaus rolled his eyes and sighed with boredom.

"The boy is talking rubbish, Sweetheart" He scoffed as he took her by the wrist "Come with me, I'm by far a better teacher"

She giggled feeling like a good school girl being tempted into skipping class as they vanished behind the stage, where no one could see them.

He told her how he had performed there once, substituting the actor who was supposed to play Macbeth "Well, he should have known better" He shrugged as if it were nothing "Everybody knows that bad things happen when someone tries to put The Scottish Play on stage"

Caroline felt suddenly extremely uneasy, knowing that Klaus was so old even if he looked only a few years older than her made her feel absolutely numb and vulnerable.

For a few moments Klaus was estranged from reality, he was probably drowning in old memories.

Caroline couldn't understand how someone could retain all those souvenirs and experiences without getting absolutely insane. Not that Klaus was exactly what could be considered normal.

In the main time Klaus was thinking about the people he had met during that period, he was traveling on his own during that time trying to throw Mikael off his scent. He realized that he had spent most of his life running away from the vampire hunter, his step-father, and he had been chasing others in return.

The pale shadow of an emotion appeared on his face -Caroline couldn't believe it- it was sadness.

Hesitantly Caroline gently touched her hand with his shoulder asking him if he was okay. He nodded and smiled while looking up.

"I'm sure you were a wonderful Macbeth" Caroline teased him as they hid in a darkened corner when they heard steps approaching "Obsessed with power, allowing no one to get in his way, failing miserably..."

"Caroline, you're beautiful" He glared daggers at her, unsure whether he was more annoyed that she kept making assumption or that she was actually comparing him to that pussy wife sub of Macbeth "But if you don't stop talking I will kill you"

Caroline bit her lips, trying hard not to laugh in his face. You never know how Mr. Evil Villain and his massive ego could react.

"Let's just say that Lady Macbeth was worth making myself a fool in front of the audience" He replied with a smug expression on his face when she frowned.

"Don't worry, Love" He smiled wickedly as she pushed him away and started walking towards the opposite direction "she couldn't quite compare to you anyway" And even if she could she was only dust now.

Caroline convinced Klaus to take a walk through Covent Garden and Soho, she was inebriated by the lights and the loud music. People were dancing and talking loudly in the streets, everything was so vital and lively and she couldn't help but feeling as dead as she had never felt before. He couldn't help but notice the way she envied those fragile, limited bodies and their beating heart pumping blood through their veins. He wanted to hug her and stroke her hair, to comfort her, but he knew that being with her was like walking on thin ice, one wrong, inconsiderate move and the tiny bit of trust he had earned was going to shatter into tiny pieces.

They entered one of the fancy bars and sat at one of the table, ordering a drink. The pumping music and the people laughing reminded Caroline of her friends back home. She had never been so far away from them, she didn't even know if they were fine, she was such an awful friend.

The waitress came with their ordination and she gave Klaus a seductive smile while batting her fake eyelashes. He even smiled back at her like, that jerk, like a wolf before killing its prey. The woman barely registered Caroline's presence as she sat the drink in front of her and, of course, she didn't notice the disgusted -but more than anything upset- frown on the blonde's face.

_Slut,_ the young vampire thought as the woman disappeared in the crowd swaying her hips as an invitation. Klaus was looking at her with a mocking grin on his face, was her disappointment that obvious?

"What's so funny?" She replied hastily while grabbing her drink "It's not nice to ignore a client because you're totally drooling over the man sitting at her table, you wouldn't have found it funny if it were the other way round"

She was adorable even when she was mad.

"If it were the other way round I would compel the waiter to claw his eyes out to make sure he never lays his gaze on you again" He replied with a malicious smirk. That was _so_ Klaus.

"Are you trying to be charming or is it just your sociopath self talking?"

He paused for a moment thinking that a toast was the proper way to end their first day in London.

"To an unexpected adventure" He grinned raising his glass towards her.

"Cheers!" She replied and she even made an effort to smile back at him.

After the toast they headed back to his house, where Caroline felt relieved at the idea of laying in a bed. She hadn't realized how intense her day had been really.

Klaus made his way to the bathroom and he stopped to take a look at her, she made him feel warm.

After all the time he had spent on his own, it was nice to have someone with him. Especially when that someone was Caroline Forbes.

"Good night, Klaus" She murmured half asleep.

"Good night, Caroline," He answered "Sweet dreams"

"Elijah, I don't think I can do this" Elena whispered as they sat in her car just outside an anonymous bar in an anonymous city not far from Mystic Falls.

He had insisted on having their "training session", as he liked to call them, outside the town. Living in a city inhabited by vampire hunters was already hard enough, they couldn't allow themselves to be careless: they could not feed on humans, they could not steal blood bags and they could not use compulsion.

"You can do it, Elena," Elijah looked at her and he smiled confidently "I trust you and I know that you can control yourself"

"But what if I don't? What if I hurt an innocent person?" Even in the darkness of the car he could see her gloomy eyes and the crooked line of her mouth. It made him want to kiss her pain away, senselessly.

"I will be right next to you," He promised squeezing her hand gently "if you can't handle it, I'll step in"

Elena weakly returned the squeeze and she made an attempt to turn her mouth up at the corners with a insecure smile "Promise?"

"I will never let anything bad happen to you, Elena Gilbert" And with no trace of doubt nor fear she believed him.

A man in his 40s crossed their cars to get through the parking lot.

"Do you remember everything I taught you?" He asked. Elena nodded and quickly got out of the car to approach the human, she was vaguely aware of Elijah's presence in the shadows.

The man turned and gulped, there was a creepy girl standing too close to him to what was normally considered polite for social conventions.

"May I help you, Miss?" He asked feeling a weird knot in his stomach. Somehow he knew that the girl -who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere by the way- was trouble.

"Yes, you may actually," She replied boring her eyes into his with such and intensity that made him go numb "You will stay still and you will forget about ever meeting me"

The man nodded mechanically and he did not try to fend himself when the girl stood on the tip of her toes and buried her head in the crook of his neck. He was vaguely aware that something sharp had stung into his skin, but by the time he got back in the car everything was gone.

Elena rushed to the car and closed herself in, shaking violently. Feeding directly from the vein had felt _divine: _the warm blood splashing in her mouth was much sweeter than animal blood and did not taste nearly as stale as blood bags. The feelings were overwhelming, but somehow she had managed to pay attention to all the little things Elijah had taught her: listening to the beat of his heart, making sure to prevent his knees to grow weak and stopping before the blood pressure became too low. She licked her lips knowing that she was going to want more.

Elijah had a proud smile on his face while he cleaned the corner of her mouth with the clean napkin he had unfolded from his pocket. He looked like one of those teacher the day their favourite pupil wins the first place in the science competition.

"The first time is always the hardest," He told her "but you were absolutely brilliant out there, you didn't even need my help"

"But I did," She answered honestly with a big smile breaking on her now relaxed face "I couldn't have done it if I didn't know you had faith in me"

They remained silent for a moment and the she spoke again "Elijah promise me you will never let me lose myself"

He promised. He had crossed the point of no return without even realizing it and he would have never let anything bad happen to that girl again: she might be the mirror image of her ancestors, but there was not an ounce of evil in her. Perhaps, for the first time, that pretty face that had already left him miserable twice in the past was not going to break his heart a third time.

**I am horrible! :(**

**I really meant to update earlier but I'm kinda lazy, I guess :/**

**I hope I'll be able to update faster during the holidays because I feel really bad when I put a story aside for too long. Forgive me for being such an awful person? 3**


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